Pink is the Color of the Cure

Once again we are in the season of pink! Each October I am amazed at the number of new retail products that are available in rosy shades of the official breast cancer color. This will sound bizarre, but as a breast cancer survivor, I feel like I belong to a special exclusive club when I walk through a store display of breast cancer awareness products. I almost want to boast to other shoppers — who buy these limited pink products — that I am a survivor of the terrible disease.

Maybe having the world draped in pink for one month out of the year is something we survivors should feel proud of. After all, it really is about us and expanding our club. Not a club of women diagnosed with breast cancer, but a group of brave brilliant souls who have survived! Early detection saves lives and let us never forget it. I had to explain the concept of a crucial catch, the slogan that the NFL promotes by wearing pink throughout the October games to my husband today — it is crucial to catch the disease early. Whoever dreamed we’d see football players accessorized in pink!

Pink will also mean more this month to the wife of senate majority leader Harry Reid. It was announced this weekend that Mrs. Reid at the age of 71 has been diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. While I am happy to hear that she found the breast cancer, I am always sorry when it is anything but in-situ, or stage 0. Stage 2 generally leads to more aggressive surgery and treatment so it is crucial we find it while it is still contained in the duct as in in-situ breast cancer. The next few months will be tough ones for Landra Reid as she makes decisions about treatment and begins her battle against the disease. It is my hope that the pink that paints our world this month reminds her that there are far more survivors of the disease than ever before.

Wear pink, buy pink and give pink products away. Make sure though that along with this brilliant color you remember to tell your girlfriends, sisters, and women associates that they are vulnerable and need to be tested for breast cancer — especially if they are 40 or older. Pink is supposed to raise money to find the cure and it is only pretty when it means we are making progress.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathy-Ellen Kups, RN

Kathy-Ellen is a Registered Nurse living in Michigan. In 2003, Kathy-Ellen was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. She was cancer-free from April 2004 until December of 2013 when it was discovered that...read more